NBA

KD makes history with ‘legendary’ triple double to secure clutch win over NBA’s ‘dumbest team’

The Brooklyn Nets’ decision to rush James Harden back from injury to offset the loss of Kyrie Irving looked like it was going to blow up in their faces during the first half of Game 5 with the Milwaukee Bucks.

Then upstepped Kevin Durant.

Durant became only the fourth man to hit a 40/15/10 triple double in playoffs history as he played every minute of Game 5 at the Barclays Center.

The performance saw the Nets move one win away from the finals of the Eastern Conference as they went 3-2 up in the best of seven series.

“I wasn’t planning on playing every minute but as the game started to flow I got down and told coach that if he needs to take me off for a couple, it’s cool, but I feel good and he just let me ride it out,” Durant said afterwards.

“Jeff Green was incredible here tonight. James coming out and thugging it for us… I just think the second half we played extremely hard.”

The 32-year-old finished with 49 points, 17 rebounds and 10 assist as the Bucks blew a 16-point half-time lead, much to the frustration of NBA legend Charles Barkley, who tipped to Giannis Antetokounmpo – who finished with 12 rebounds, four assists and 34 points himself – to lead his team to World Championship glory.

“I’ve gotta say this about the Milwaukee Bucks,” he said. “I think the Milwaukee Bucks are going to win the World Championship. I really do. But they gotta be the dumbest team. Between stupid fouls and bad shots and not taking advantage of mismatches…”

And he did it all without the help of the only other fit member of the Nets’ ‘Big Three’.

Irving limped out of Game 4 clutching his ankle as the Bucks levelled the series, ruling him out of Game 5 and leaving the Nets short of two of their ‘Big Three’.

However, Harden rushed back from his own hamstring injury after the Nets decided to leave the decision on whether he should play or not up to the player himself.

“He wants to play,” Nets coach Steve Nash said of Harden prior to Game 5. “He has been pushing.”

He may have wished he decided to give himself another couple of days to prepare for his return after the first half however, as he scored a total of zero points for the first time in his entire career.

He ended the half with 0 from 7 FG and only managed his first basket – a free throw – with 7:21 left on the clock in the third.

Harden recovered somewhat from there to finish on six rebounds, eight assists and five points.